Seminar, 2Hrs, Graded

Course codes:

AN12000BA; AN18007BA; AN2200OMA

Seminar, 2hrs, graded

First year BA, Minor programme

Mon, 4.00-5.40 p.m., Lecture Hall II

Instructor: Szabó Éva

Office hour:Mon6.00-7.00 p.m., Rm 104

Email:

1

Wed, 6.00-7.40 p.m., Rm 55

The course has a double aim. First, to introduce students to British cultural history and life in modern Britain, that is, to basic cultural phenomena, and second, to improve the students’ language skills. In each seminar various images, newspaper articles, literary,and visual texts (including films, e.g. The King’s Speechand iconic British television series like The Vicar of Dibley, Inbetweeners, Yes, Minister, etc.) and songs (from William Blake’s “Jerusalem” through John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” to Muse’s “Uprising”) are discussed. The discussions are accompanied by comprehension questions and exercises on the topics, including popular images of Britishness vs. Englishness, national symbols, language, manners, gender roles, other “things English” (tea ceremony, the cult of the countryside, the Beatles, etc.), political institutions, the cultural geography of London, law, education, class, international relations, Euroscepticism, race relations, multiculturalism, religion, welfare and the media.

Requirements:

CLASSROOM WORK:Students are expected to read the assigned chapters for each class as this is the basis of classroom participation, and it also contributes to the final gradewith 10% of the maximum. The success of the seminar will greatly depend on your contribution; it is essential, therefore, that participants take an active part in classroom discussions.

QUIZZES:can be expected at the beginning of seminars to check students’ familiarity with the assigned readings. It will take approximately 5 minutes to write these tests. If the total of the quizzes does not reach 60% percent, the entire course fails to be graded. Latecomers will not be allowed to write them, nor those who are absent from the class. In case of failure, there will be one more chance topass them on week 14, together with the end-term test. Also, quizzes count 10% of the final grade.

PRESENTATION: Every student will have to give a short presentation (10 minutes at the maximum) on a freely chosen topic closely related to the relevant chapters of the O’Driscoll book. The presenter has to prepare a well-prepared handout for the group and it is requiredthat the presentation is of high quality both in terms of form and content. Students are advised to include extra cultural, historical info, interesting details, pictures, music, videos, etc. The presentation cannot be completely read out, the student can of course check his/her notes while presenting.Presentation topics are discussed in the first class. The student has to consult with the instructor one week before the presentation and show her the handout.

MID-TERM TEST:an objective test on the material covered in the first half of the term.

End-term test:anobjective teston the material covered in the second half of the semester; definitions, general outline of certain cultural issues, short essay questions on particular topics (to be answered in 5-6 sentences).

Class attendance:no more than three missed classes can be tolerated.

Neither mid-term tests, nor end-term tests can be rewritten. If the mid-term test receives a very low percentage, the student will have to write a very good end-term test in order to get a grade for the course. Unlike exams, both the mid-term and the end-term tests assess how students have been studying during the entire semester. If the mark for the mid-term and the end-term does not add up to 50%, the final grade for the course will be 1. Only occasional quizzes can be rewritten, as it is described above.

(N.B. NO GRADE CAN BE OBTAINED UNLESS ALL THE COURSE COMPONENTS ARE FULFILLED)

TEXTS:

For the assigned chapters of the O’Driscoll book’s pdf version one can email the instructor,or one can also download it from the librarian’scomputer in Rm. 101 together with the course material.

Further handouts distributed by the instructor or sent via email in advance.

• sample UK citizenship test
• watching a scene from The King’s Speech
• discussing some popular images of the UK

• The Union Jack video clip
• “God Save the Queen”
• watching a scene from Trainspotting (on Scottish identity)
• listening to William Blake’shymn “Jerusalem”

• Paul McCartney: “English Tea”
• “Women, know your limits!” (BBC video)
• Blur: “Country House”
• “The Stately Homes of England”

• Images and maps provided by the instructor
• watching a scene from The Queen
• Powerpoint presentation: “The British Monarchy”

• Powerpoint presentation: “Government in the UK”
• watching Yes, Minister
• images, charts and videos provided by the tutor

• “Monty Python’s Flying Circus Court Scene”.
• images, charts and videos provided by the tutor

• watching the Ascot scene from My Fair Lady
• John Lennon: “Working Class Hero”
• watching Inbetweeners
• watching a scene fromDownton Abbey
• Powerpoint presentation: “UK Education System” - British Council presentation
• “The Grumpy Guide To Class.”

• Sinead O’Connor: “Famine”
• U2: “Bloody Sunday”
• Powerpoint presentation: “Commonwealth, EU, North Atlantic Relations”
• Cartoons: The Falklands War

• watching a scene from East Is East
• watching a scene from The Vicar of Dibley
• Powerpoint presentation: “Religious diversity in Britain”
• watching a scene from Empire Road

• newspapers, charts provided by the instructor
• Powerpoint presentation: “The Media in Britain”
• Song: The Daily Mail Song by Dan&Dan
• Mitch Benn: “I’m Proud of the BBC”

• watching a wedding and the funeral from Four Weddings and a Funeral
• Muse: “Uprising”

1